I would walk 8,000 miles

Satish Kumar is in many ways, the perfect activist; never losing hope in us as a human race, yet continuing to push, cajole and pressure us to care.

“Without a challenge, life would be very boring, a cause gives you energy, something to stand up and fight for. We need to speak out and fight for what we believe in, so I never feel hopeless, I am always hopeful because it is never too late. Besides you can only be an activist if you are an optimist,” he chuckles.

82 years old and vibrating with health, the current editor of Resurgence & Ecologist magazine, and former monk, organised The Resurgence Festival in Oxford, persuading the great and the good of the sustainable world to congregate next week, where the likes of authorMichael Morpurgo, filmmaker David Puttnam (former President of UNICEF); peace activist & Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Scilla Elworthy; HRH The Prince of Wales (who gives a video address); US rapper-activist Prince Ea; foodie Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, Indian social activist Vandana Shiva; Mark Goldring, Chief Executive of Oxfam GB; and 50 other leading international speakers, artists and performers, will be discussing and debating the state of the world.

Some big names then? “Well over the years I have made some good contacts, and we have become friends, so when I asked them if they wanted to take part they all said yes,” he smiles. “They are coming from all over the world to take part; from India, Australia and America so it has taken about a year to plan.”

Leading by example, Satish will be hiking from the source of the Thames near Cirencester to Oxford’s Oxfam shop to launch the Resurgence Festival, 50 miles in six days.

It will be a walk in the park compared to his last rambling foray in 1962 from India to the four capitals of the nuclear world: Moscow, Paris, London and Washington D.C without a penny, to highlight nuclear disarmament and world peace, which took over two years.

"I walked 8000 miles without a penny in my pocket and trust in my heart, village by village, country by country through deserts and mountains and forests meeting communists and capitalists through winters and summers, and yes it was one of my greatest achievements and certainly one of life's highlights.

“Well I was much younger so had a lot more energy then,” he laughs, “but this time our walk is symbolic, to shed light on environmental issues, so what we lack in energy we make up for in passion and enthusiasm.

"Our philosophy is based around the four most important elements – earth wind, fire and water. Forget technology – if we poison and pollute them we will have nothing. So my walk aims to remind people of this, of the need for clean water and pure air. But if there was a fifth element it would be imagination which societies don’t champion any more. We have become wage slaves and our imaginations have got lost which worries me a lot.

Satish who cooks, gardens, reads, writes, walks an hour a day and still works as editor of Resurgence & Ecologist Magazine, says the new generation uses their thumbs but not their imaginations.

He says his commitment as editor for 43 years has sustained him: "I don’t do it for the money. Of course I have to pay the bills, and some attractive offers have come in over the years which I have turned down. But it's important to have something to devote yourself to. A commitment keeps you energised and sustains you, whether to spirituality, peace, ecology or imagination. They are my causes and I find them fulfilling."

So what's his main bone of contention at the moment? “The pollution of our air and the destruction of our atmosphere. It is the ultimate sin against nature. We have begun to think we can live with air pollution and yet it is our biggest threat. So the US and China signing the Paris agreement has rectified that. Trump is a disgrace."

His story, ethos and general outlook is inspiring enough to invigorate the most jaded hack. "Well when you wake up it is always morning. There is always time to do something, to make a difference. There is still time to save the planet. But on the same hand we cannot afford to ruin it.

Having lived here for most of his life, Satish is married with two grow-up children, his son accompanying him on his walk. "I was persuaded to move here when I followed Ghandi by activists who said there were hundreds of me in India and none in England,” he laughs. And the climate suits me here. India is too hot and the people have been wonderful to me in the UK."

Satish will be accompanied by 50 people on his walk coomencing today, from all walks of life, to Oxford where an even more expectant and adoring audience awaits. A fitting tribute.